Council says it won't hike property tax rates

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The City Council "does not support any increase in real property tax rates and will not pass an increase in the residential real property tax rate," the nine-member panel said in a letter to Mayor Jeremy Harris.

Harris has indicated he does not anticipate a need to raise residential tax rates but will not rule it out. An increase in commercial rates is more likely, he said.

As the council drafted the letter last week, Harris dismissed the tax warning as election-year posturing and said council members appeared to misunderstand their role.

"The process needs to be an open and honest one based on real policy-making," Harris said Thursday.

But council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said the letter is meant to advise Harris of the council's inclinations and prevent bickering over the annual budget the mayor is to unveil next month. Harris does not have to heed the advice.

"He doesn't have to listen to us, because of the different roles we have, but we just want to work together," Dela Cruz said.

He said the mayor has too often backed the council into a corner and forced its members to react on short notice to issues that could have been addressed better in a timely manner.

"I didn't anticipate this kind of negative reaction from us trying to reach out," Dela Cruz said.

The letter advises the mayor to budget for core city services before adding new initiatives.

The portion of the city's budget that's spent on paying off debt has increased in recent years, but Harris said that's largely because the overall amount in the spending plan has not grown much.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.